𝗕𝗘𝗬𝗢𝗡𝗗 𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 | ʟᴇᴠɪ ᴀ.

005 ჻ 𝙋𝙇𝙀𝘼𝙎𝙐𝙍𝙀 𝙏𝙊 𝘽𝙀𝙃𝙊𝙇𝘿

[ contains profanity ]

TRAINING CORPS
(訓練隊)
YEAR 844

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AFTER going through each phase, quickly learning along her way, Thalia enters the final exam phase. During which, she makes a perfect score on the written, and a good score on the physical, thus allowing her to graduate ranking second among the top cadets.

She stands stiffly in front of the other cadets,  in her starched and pressed uniform. In those threads that mark her out as a fighter, a protector, a defender, and a woman of strength, she is barely recognizable as the girl she was only three years ago.

The moon's incredibly bright today. Thalia says to herself while staring heavenwards.

"Thalia!" Hange yells at a distance, feverishly waving her right hand.

She looks like a proud mom.

At that instant, her mind forms a picture of a woman.

The light from the torches alights on Thalia's face softer than the kisses the woman used to plant, and just as cold as the memories had turned. In this swirl of yellow, the world is washed anew, like a new page, taking the place of the world around her. Under the light the moon gives off, was the path she trod as a child, walking with her hand in hand. She wants to turn the pages back and dwell on the fine details: the crows feet around her eyes that deepened when she smiled, how she always wears her husband's rubber boots with four layers of socks rather than buy her own. One by one, the memories come back.

But life is pulling her forward into the unknown with one hand and erasing her past with the other. Her thoughts are thicker than the moonlight. She's gone, she won't come back.

Mom.

"Thalia?"

"Oh, hey guys!"

"You're staring into space again. Anyways, you know, if you took every trainings a no laughing matter, you could've ranked first but. . . congratulations!" Moblit says as he approaches Thalia.

"Congratulations, shorty! You made it!" Hange replies.

"No, Hange. We made it. Moblit, you're such a buzzkill. Who cares? I'm not joining the MPs, nor the Garrison, anyway." She raises her eyebrow and brings her right hand to her hip. "I'll be with you guys."

"Shut up. What? But. . . you said. . ." Moblit trails off.

"Yahoo! We're going to capture a titan together, and we'll do lots of experiments! We'll elucidate every existing ideologies regarding those bastards!" Hange grins like a Cheshire cat.

"Let's go eat dinner. I'm starving. I'll tell you a secret later." Thalia smiles, taking both of their hands.

"Thalia." A voice from behind stops them from walking.

Turning around, she spots a raven-haired boy. Hair so black against skin so white isn't supposed to be legal. The boy's eyes are a midnight blue, but not the kind of shade that's easy to describe. She could feel her heart beat. . . every single pound in her chest.

"Thomas Weber," Thalia replies.

"Congratulations." Thomas beams.

"Uh. . . uhm. . . y-yeah. Congrats to you too. Well, uhm, we'll get going now, bye!" She swiftly takes her two friends' hands again to proceed to the mess hall.